Breast ironing
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Breast ironing, also known as breast flattening,
It is mostly practiced in parts of
History
Breast ironing may be derived from the ancient practice of breast massage.[1] Breast massage aims to help even out different breast sizes and reduce the pain of nursing mothers by massaging the breast with warm objects, see Treatment for mastitis.
Incidence
The breast ironing practice has been documented in Nigeria, Togo, Republic of Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. Additionally it has been found in other African countries including Burkina Faso, Central African Republic (CAR), Benin, and Guinea-Conakry.[11] Breast "sweeping" has been reported in South Africa.[1] The practice has become commonly associated with Cameroon as a result of media attention and local levels of activism from human rights groups.[11] All of Cameroon's 200 ethnic groups engage in breast ironing,[12] with no known relation to religion, socio-economic status, or any other identifier.[1] A 2006 survey by the German development agency GIZ of more than 5,000 Cameroonian girls and women between the ages of 10 and 82 estimated that nearly one in four had undergone breast ironing, corresponding to four million girls. The survey also reported that it is most commonly practiced in urban areas, where mothers fear their daughters could be more exposed to sexual abuse.[3] Incidence is 53 percent in the Cameroon's southeastern region of Littoral.[9] Compared with Cameroon's Christian and animist south, breast ironing is less common in the Muslim north, where only 10 percent of women are affected.[3] Some hypothesize that this is related to the practice of early marriage, which is more common in the north, making early sexual development irrelevant or even preferable.[1] Research suggests that 16% of girls, particularly in the far North regions where child marriages are highly common, try to flatten their own breasts in an attempt to delay early sexual maturity and early marriage.[5]
A 2007 journal suggested that social norms in Cameroon result in women lacking bodily autonomy, as Cameroonian women are not socialized to negotiate
A 2008 report suggested that the rise in the incidence of breast ironing is due to the earlier onset of puberty, caused by dietary improvements in Cameroon over the previous 50 years.[13] Half of Cameroonian girls who develop under the age of nine have their breasts ironed,[13] and 38% of those who develop before eleven.[3] Additionally, since 1976, the percentage of women married by the age of 19 has decreased from nearly 50% to 20%, leading to an increasingly long gap between childhood and marriage. The later age of marriage may be due to changed social norms that allow girls and women to attend school through university and to hold jobs in the formal sector; previously, girls entered married life young, wed to an older man without informed consent.[citation needed] Women who delay marriage in pursuit of education and career are more likely to be financially independent later in life, whereas girls who become pregnant are often forced to drop out of school and forgo formal employment.[1]
One of the only full-length reports on breast ironing dates from 2011, when a Cameroonian NGO sponsored by GIZ called it "a harmful traditional practice that has been silenced for too long".[14]
There are fears that the practice has spread to the Cameroonian diaspora, for example to Britain.
Health consequences
Breast ironing is extremely painful and can cause
Breast ironing can cause women to fear
Many women also suffer
Opposition
As well as being dangerous, breast ironing is criticised as being ineffective for stopping early sex and pregnancy. GIZ (then called "GTZ") and the Network of Aunties (RENATA), a Cameroonian
According to one Cameroonian lawyer, if a medical doctor determines that damage has been caused to the breasts, the perpetrator can be punished by up to three years in prison, provided the matter is reported within a few months.[2] However, it is unclear if such a law exists as there are no recorded instances of legal enforcement.[1]
The GIZ survey found that in 2006, 39 percent of Cameroonian women opposed breast ironing, with 41 percent expressing support and 26 percent indifferent.[3] Reuters reported in 2014 that nationwide campaigning against the practice had helped reduce the rate of breast ironing by 50 percent in the country.[18]
See also
- Breast reduction
- Breast binding
- Female genital mutilation
- Mastectomy
- Amazons
- Thelarche, the stage of pubertal development at which breast buds appear
- Precocious puberty
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rebecca Tapscott (14 May 2012). "Understanding Breast "Ironing": A Study of the Methods, Motivations, and Outcomes of Breast Flattening Practices in Cameroon" (PDF). Feinstein International Center (Tufts University).
- ^ BBC News. Retrieved 2008-01-02.
- ^ Child Rights Information Network. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
- ^ a b c d e Sylvestre Tetchiada (13 June 2006). "An Unwelcome 'Gift of God'". IPS News. Retrieved 2008-01-02.
- ^ ISSN 2241-8229.
- ^ a b c Dugan, Emily (26 September 2013). "'Breast ironing': Girls 'have chests flattened out' to disguise the onset of puberty". Independent. London. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
- ^ Lazareva, Inna (26 January 2019). "Revealed: 'dozens' of girls subjected to breast-ironing in UK". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
- ^ Lazareva, Inna (13 February 2019). "Breast-ironing: UK government vows to tackle abusive practice". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
- ^ a b c "Campaign launched to counter "breast ironing"". PlusNews. 28 June 2006. Archived from the original on 2012-02-13.
- ProQuest 2248747035.
- ^ a b Hussain M, Nzouankeu A (2013). "In Cameroon, women "iron" daughters' breasts to ward off men". Thomas Reuters Foundation.
- ^ Nkepile Mabuse (July 27, 2011). "Breast ironing tradition targeted in Cameroon". CNN. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-17.
- ^ a b "Breast Ironing". Current TV. 26 February 2008. Archived from the original on April 10, 2008. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
- ^ Rosaline Ngunshi Bawe (August 2011). "Breast Ironing... A harmful practice that has been silenced for too long" (PDF). Gender Empowerment and Development. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-313-33616-4. Retrieved 2012-02-17.
- ISSN 2241-8229.
- ISSN 2241-8229.
- ^ Penney, Joe. "Breast ironing". Reuters | The Wider Image. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
External links
- Breast ironing in the UK – BBC, 2019
- Plastic Dream – photographic work and writing of testimonies by Gildas Paré